Gen 19:26 | KingComments | STEP | When Lot arrives in Zoar, the LORD “rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone” and “He overthrew those cities, and all the valley”. Lot’s wife did go with Lot, but she does not mind the order given not to look behind her ( ). She does look behind her and becomes a pillar of salt, a continuous memorial, a beacon of remembrance. This is how the Lord Jesus applies it: “Remember Lot’s wife” ( ). He says that as a warning not to put the heart on the things of the world and not to waste our time and attention and energy by filling our lives with food and drink and buying and selling, with planting and building. We can’t take anything of it with us in the day of judgment. It all comes to an end. Thus says the Lord in the verses which precede the warning example of the wife of Lot in Luke 17: “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back” ( ). The Lord Jesus also said that if the miracles He did in Capernaum had occurred in Sodom, Sodom would have converted and “it would have remained to this day” ( ). Why then, we might ask ourselves, did He not do that? Because according to the wisdom of God, Sodom and Gomorrah had a testimony of God’s revelation, perfectly adapted to them. They have had God’s testimony in creation ( ). But they have not bowed before God. They acted according to their corrupt nature, and did not take any notice of God’s revelation in creation. They will be judged on the basis of this rejection of God’s testimony. Thus, each people are subjected to a test of their obedience to God in a way that fully matches their responsibility.

‏ Genesis 19:26

Sodom and Gomorrah Overthrown

When Lot arrives in Zoar, the LORD “rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone” and “He overthrew those cities, and all the valley”. Lot’s wife did go with Lot, but she does not mind the order given not to look behind her (Gen 19:17). She does look behind her and becomes a pillar of salt, a continuous memorial, a beacon of remembrance.

This is how the Lord Jesus applies it: “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk 17:32). He says that as a warning not to put the heart on the things of the world and not to waste our time and attention and energy by filling our lives with food and drink and buying and selling, with planting and building. We can’t take anything of it with us in the day of judgment. It all comes to an end.

Thus says the Lord in the verses which precede the warning example of the wife of Lot in Luke 17: “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back” (Lk 17:28-31).

The Lord Jesus also said that if the miracles He did in Capernaum had occurred in Sodom, Sodom would have converted and “it would have remained to this day” (Mt 11:23). Why then, we might ask ourselves, did He not do that? Because according to the wisdom of God, Sodom and Gomorrah had a testimony of God’s revelation, perfectly adapted to them.

They have had God’s testimony in creation (Rom 1:19-20). But they have not bowed before God. They acted according to their corrupt nature, and did not take any notice of God’s revelation in creation. They will be judged on the basis of this rejection of God’s testimony. Thus, each people are subjected to a test of their obedience to God in a way that fully matches their responsibility.